Analysis of the Impact of China's Medical Insurance Support Policies on the Overseas Expansion Strategies of Pharmaceutical Enterprises

In recent years, the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) has actively promoted the internationalization strategy of pharmaceutical enterprises and issued a series of supporting measures. The “Several Measures to Support the High-Quality Development of Innovative Drugs” released in June 2025 includes 16 specific measures, with the core being “full-chain support” for innovative drugs [1]. These policy initiatives include:

The NHSA encourages qualified regions to build global innovative drug trading platforms targeting regions such as Southeast Asia and Central Asia. The established platforms include:

• China-ASEAN Volume-Based Procurement Trading Platform (officially launched in January 2025, China’s first cross-regional volume-based procurement platform) [2]
• China (Xinjiang)-Central Asia Central Pharmacy
• China International Medical Equipment and Device Trading & Volume-Based Procurement Platform

On December 2, 2025, the China Drug Price Registration System was officially launched, providing an authoritative basis for international market price negotiations and compliance certificates for innovative drugs “going global” and overseas new drugs “bringing in”, and serving as a carrier for enterprises to build a globalized, diversified price system [3].

The first edition of the “Commercial Health Insurance Innovative Drug Catalog” was implemented in December 2025, including 19 drugs, which built a multi-level payment system of “basic medical insurance for basic needs, commercial insurance for innovation” [1].

Medical insurance support policies promote the internationalization of pharmaceutical enterprises from multiple dimensions. First, the launch of the China Drug Price Registration System has made the reference value of China’s market terminal price increasingly prominent, and the multilingual price certificates issued by the system provide key price support for enterprises to explore international markets [3]. According to data from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products, from January to October 2025, China’s pharmaceutical preparation exports reached USD 7.42 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.8%, accounting for 16.1% of total drug exports [4].

Second, in 2025, the total amount of overseas licensing of China’s innovative drugs exceeded USD 100 billion, a year-on-year surge of about 75%, with a down payment of USD 8.1 billion. Over 90% of multinational pharmaceutical enterprises have reached cooperation with Chinese enterprises [5]. The cooperation model is no longer limited to simple technology transfer, but has moved towards multi-level cooperation of “licensing + joint development + commercialization participation”.

Policy support provides institutional guarantees for Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises to expand overseas. The launch of the China-ASEAN Volume-Based Procurement Trading Platform marks a more convenient channel for Chinese pharmaceutical products to enter the ASEAN market, facilitating the procurement and use of Chinese pharmaceutical products by various countries and sharing the dividends of China’s pharmaceutical industry development [2]. The proportion of trade in medical devices with “Belt and Road” countries has increased to 30.62% [6].

The NHSA pointed out that the drug price registration system and provincial-level pharmaceutical procurement platforms are independent of each other and do not interfere with each other. The supply price declared by enterprises is for non-medical insurance markets, which can be applied to multiple scenarios such as private hospitals, internet hospitals, self-paid medical care and high-end medical care [3]. This means that even if innovative drugs are not included in medical insurance, their market value can be established through this system, providing a price reference and commercial foundation for enterprises’ overseas expansion.

From drug review reform to innovative medical insurance payment, from laboratory R&D to international multi-center clinical trials, China’s innovative drug ecosystem has formed a complete closed-loop system [1]. Among the 114 new drugs added in the 2025 medical insurance catalog adjustment, 111 are new drugs launched within 5 years, accounting for as high as 98%, of which 50 are Category 1 innovative drugs. The number and proportion of added innovative drugs have hit a new high in previous years [7].

Hengrui Medicine successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2025, raising a net amount of HKD 9.747 billion, becoming the largest IPO in the Hong Kong pharmaceutical sector in the past five years [8]. The company has accumulated 14 innovative drug overseas licensing collaborations, including 9 in the past three years, with a cumulative transaction amount of approximately USD 14 billion. In July 2025, it reached a cooperation with GSK on the PDE3/4 inhibitor HRS-9821 and 11 early-stage projects, with a potential total transaction amount of USD 12.5 billion [9]. In the first three quarters of 2025, the company’s innovative drug sales and licensing revenue reached RMB 9.561 billion, accounting for over 60% of total revenue.

With a market capitalization of RMB 413.8 billion on the A-share market, BeiGene became the top domestic pharmaceutical company by market value in 2025. The company has achieved profitability for two consecutive quarters, with its revenue in the first three quarters of 2025 reaching RMB 27.595 billion, a year-on-year increase of 44.2% [10]. Zanubrutinib continues to see volume growth in the US and European markets, becoming the core engine driving changes in the revenue structure. With its positioning as a global innovative drug company, the company will welcome 20 key milestone events in the next 18 months.

Innovent Biologics has completed a critical leap from a “local innovative pharmaceutical enterprise” to a “global biopharmaceutical enterprise”, building a development pattern of “tumor + chronic disease” dual-drive and “R&D + commercialization + globalization” trinity. In October 2025, its up to USD 11.4 billion global strategic cooperation with Takeda marked the leap of domestic pharmaceutical enterprises from “technology exporter” to “equal partner” in international cooperation [10].

3SBio reached a cooperation with Pfizer on the bispecific antibody new drug SSGJ-707, with a down payment of as high as USD 1.25 billion and a potential total transaction amount of over USD 6 billion, setting a new record for overseas licensing transactions by Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises [11].

Ganlee Pharmaceuticals is a typical representative of international layout in the insulin field. The company has completed the leap from raw material export to preparation export, with the proportion of international revenue increasing from less than 2% to over 12%, and has built a commercial network covering more than 20 countries [12]. The Brazilian PDP project (a RMB 3 billion order) is expected to start contributing revenue substantially in 2025. With the market access landing in Southeast Asia, Middle East and North Africa, the revenue from emerging markets is expected to maintain a high growth rate of over 30%. The approval of insulin products co-developed with Sandoz in Europe and the US will be a major catalyst.

As a pioneer in internationalization in the vaccine field, CanSino Biologics’ COVID-19 vaccine has obtained emergency use authorization in multiple countries and regions, demonstrating the R&D strength and internationalization capability of Chinese vaccine enterprises.

Mindray Medical has an “A+H” layout and a high degree of internationalization. The company has achieved breakthroughs in the high-end markets of Europe and the US, with strong growth in high-end and characteristic product categories. From January to October 2025, its diagnostic equipment exports reached RMB 67.445 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.43%, with significant export growth of high-value-added products such as scintigraphic devices, endoscopes, and ventilators [6].

Weihai Weigao Group’s overseas revenue accounts for 25% of its total revenue, leading among medical device enterprises, and is actively laying out emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Central Asia [13].

In 2025, the IPO approval status of Hong Kong-listed pharmaceutical enterprises is rapid and booming, with 9 companies officially listed and 38 companies submitting applications [5]. Companies such as Biocytogen, Hengrui Medicine, and Mindray Medical have already achieved an “A+H” layout, while companies like Salubris Pharmaceuticals, Akeso, Zai Lab, Sinovac Biotech, BrightGene Bio-Medical Technology, Betta Pharmaceuticals, and Mabpharm have disclosed their Hong Kong IPO plans. The core logic of pharmaceutical enterprises’ “A+H” international layout is to accelerate global resource integration and enhance international discourse power through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange platform [5].

In 2025, there were frequent heavyweight BD transactions, and the following enterprises benefited significantly:

Source: Compiled based on public information [5][11]

According to the views of industry research institutions, the following sub-sectors are worthy of key attention:

• Oligonucleotide Drugs
  : Pay attention to the continuous progress of overseas licensing of enterprises such as YKmed and Sunnywalk Biotech [4]
• Autoimmune Diseases
  : Directions such as oral TYK2 inhibitors, pay attention to enterprises such as Akeso and InnoCare Pharma [4]
• Inhalation Preparations
  : Pay attention to the technical reserves of enterprises such as Changfeng Pharmaceutical and Joincare Pharmaceutical Industry Group [4]
• ADC and Bispecific Antibodies
  : Enterprises with global multi-center clinical data will benefit first [4]

Despite the increased policy support, pharmaceutical enterprises still face challenges in overseas expansion:

• Geopolitical Risks
  : In some major country and regional markets, Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises face difficulties such as increased access barriers [14]
• R&D and Talent Shortcomings
  : The average R&D investment intensity of Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises is only 4.5%, far lower than the 15%-20% of multinational pharmaceutical enterprises, and the gap in international talents is as high as 150,000 [14]
• Supply Chain and Intellectual Property Risks
  : There are still deficiencies in the alignment of domestic drug production systems with international standards, and the patent coverage rate is less than 40% [14]

China’s medical insurance support policies provide strong institutional guarantees and strategic support for the overseas expansion of Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises. From platform construction to price mechanism, from payment system to BD transactions, the policies have formed a full-chain support system. The outstanding data that the total amount of overseas licensing of China’s innovative drugs exceeded USD 100 billion in 2025 indicates that China is accelerating its transformation from a major pharmaceutical country to a strong pharmaceutical country.

Export-oriented pharmaceutical enterprises such as Hengrui Medicine, BeiGene, Innovent Biologics, Ganlee Pharmaceuticals, and Mindray Medical are expected to continue to benefit from policy dividends. With the in-depth advancement of the “Belt and Road” initiative and the improvement of the status of Chinese pharmaceutical products in the global value chain, pharmaceutical enterprises with international strategic layout and core innovation capabilities will usher in broader development space.

[1] Securities Times - “The Year of Innovative Drug ‘Leap Forward’: From Overseas Outbreak to Value Realization” (2025-12-23)
[2] China News Service - “China-ASEAN Regional Pharmaceutical Volume-Based Procurement Platform Launched” (2025-01-10)
[3] Sina Finance - “Drug Price Registration System Launched! Key Support for Innovative Drugs’ Overseas Expansion” (2025-12-17)
[4] ByDrug - “Pharmaceutical Industry Weekly Report: Innovative Overseas Expansion Welcomes a Good Start” (2026-01-12)
[5] International Finance News - “China’s Innovative Drugs ‘Break Through’ the Global Market in 2025” (2025-12-29)
[6] China Medical Devices Industry Association - “Analysis of Import and Export of Medical Devices in 2025” (2025-12)
[7] International Finance News - “China’s Innovative Drugs ‘Break Through’ the Global Market in 2025” (2025-12-29)
[8] ShouTiao Finance - “Ten Major Maps of the Pharmaceutical Industry in 2025” (2026-01-12)
[9] East Money - “Hengrui Medicine’s A+H Listing Accelerates Its Internationalization” (2025-05)
[10] East Money - “Two BeiGene Giants Enter the TOP20” (2026-01-05)
[11] 21st Century Business Herald - “Maohua Sullivan: China’s Innovative Drugs Will Welcome an Uptrend in 2026” (2025-12-22)
[12] East Money - “Analysis of Ganlee Pharmaceuticals’ Internationalization Strategy” (2026-01-14)
[13] Medical Device Industry Report - “Analysis of Overseas Revenue of Medical Device Enterprises” (2025)
[14] China Pharmaceutical News - “How Far Is the Internationalization Road for Chinese Pharmaceutical Enterprises?” (2025-12-18)